Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) – Episode 109 – Decades of Horror 1970s

"Touch it! Go on, touch it!" Get your mind out of the gutter. The speaker isn’t talking about that “it.” Join your faithful Grue Crew - Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they uncover the true story of Frankenstein in Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) … or not.

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 109 – Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)

When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.

IMDb

 

• Director: Jack Smight
• Writers: Christopher Isherwood & Don Bachardy (teleplay), Mary Shelley (novel)
• Cast
  • James Mason as Dr. Polidori
  • Leonard Whiting as Dr. Victor Frankenstein
  • David McCallum as Dr. Henry Clerval
  • Jane Seymour as Agatha/Prima
  • Nicola Pagett as Elizabeth Fanshawe
  • Michael Sarrazin as The Creature
  • Michael Wilding as Sir Richard Fanshawe
  • Clarissa Kaye-Mason as Lady Fanshawe
  • Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Blair
  • Margaret Leighton as Francoise DuVal
  • Ralph Richardson as Mr. Lacey
  • John Gielgud as Chief Constable (Police)
  • Tom Baker as Sea Captain

Yet again, the Decades of Horror 1970s Grue-Crew delves into the realm of television mini-series with Frankenstein: The True Story, broadcast in two parts in 1973. Bill points out exactly why the title is one of the biggest misnomers in film history. Chad had a problem with the creature (Michael Sarrazin) being so handsome in the beginning but enjoyed its deterioration as the film progressed. Doc opines that the 2-hour edited version available on Amazon Prime is a hot mess of bad editing and should probably be avoided. Jeff once again goes a bit fan-boy, this time for David McCallum.

Your Grue-Crew universally enjoyed the cast and some of the set pieces and are withholding judgment until the March 24, 2020 Scream Factory release. Maybe a quality copy of the unedited version will restore the film they remembered.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror 3-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In three weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be Hammer’s Twins of Evil (1971). 

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